The gentle art of sanity amidst civilization
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There was a moment last week when I found myself standing on a beach I never could have imagined. Bookended by two cliffs was a great, smooth expanse of the most otherworldly sand. It was like a Neapolitan ice cream of fine golden sand, exotic black obsidian grains, and clear, saltlike crystals.
In the distance, perhaps [...]
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When I was taking French classes a few months ago, we were each asked to write a composition in French and pass it to another classmate to read. It struck me then that I very seldom write more than a Post-It note’s worth these days. By the end of a paragraph, my hand is cramped [...]
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As I mentioned in Thursday’s article, Raptitude is officially six months old.
I’m thrilled with how fast my readership grown, I really never expected this. I want let you know I’m very grateful for your time and attention.
This week my RSS subscriber count hit 700 for the first time, and I know that doesn’t account for [...]
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Just behind the little gas tank door on my Honda, there is a silver scratch in the paint, about the size of a dime. It looks almost like an upside-down Nike swoosh. The panel is a little bit dented.
I know exactly when it happened.
It was a Friday in June 2006, I was new at my [...]
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If I told you to sit in the corner of the room, and get up whenever you want, how long do you think you’d stay?
Chances are, not long. From my meditation experiments I’ve learned that it takes about ten seconds of sitting still before one feels an impulse to do or change something. Wants begin [...]
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“We do not remember days, we remember moments.”
~Cesare Pavese
By six o’clock on a Sunday night, the streets of Invermere were deserted. It was early fall, the middle of dead season for a skier’s town, and I was trotting down to the highway to hitchhike back up the mountain, to the resort where I lived and [...]
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“Do not seek the truth, only cease to cherish opinions.”
~Zen saying
I don’t watch the news anymore, and I don’t get the paper. It took too much time to read, and often it would put me in a bad mood. There was too much to disapprove of, too many unsettled and unsettling stories. So I cut [...]
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David began a 30-day daily meditation experiment on April 6, 2009. The original post is here. David’s progress log is here.
Well, the first official Raptitude experiment has come to an end. I just got up from my final meditation session. As far as I can tell, I am not enlightened. I can neither hear the [...]
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David began a 30-day daily meditation experiment on April 6, 2009. The original post is here. David’s progress log is here.
Well it’s been a real trip so far. Here we are at the halfway point.
After a rocky first week, I’ve settled into a comfortable groove. But it took a bit of trailblazing. About a week [...]
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Little Buddha says, “Chill out.”
In my About section, I mentioned that experimentation is important to the spirit of Raptitude. From the start, this blog has been about improving humanity through improving yourself, and improving yourself primarily by developing mental skills. Most of the skills I’ve talked about already, namely keeping life fresh, investing your attention [...]
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Follow David on his year-long solo trip to Thailand and New Zealand, on the new blog David Goes Kiwi. Many stories, photos and adventures await.